Class Project
by Kuma the wolf alchemist
Summary: She always wondered what was running aross her roof every night. As an aspiring jouranlist she planned to find out. Her journalism class project gave her and her friend the perfect oportunity to tell the city of New York what was stalking above them at night and what caused the explosions. Needless to say they were shocked of what they found out. No pairings
1. Chapter 1

Class Project

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This isn't my first fanfic, but this is my first TMNT fic. Hopfully all who read will enjoy!

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"Woohoo!"

There was that shout of joy again, that soft tapping of feet on the roof. She always wondered who, or what, was up there around the midnight hour almost every night since had had moved to the top floor apartment in New York City. She glanced up at the ceiling a little irritated.

"I'm trying to study," She murmured under her breath. Every night for the past two months she would tell herself, 'tonight is that night I check the roof'. But, she never did. Mostly, because she was afraid of what she'd find out.

Her room door creaked open revealing her mother, dressed in her blue scrubs and white tennis shoes. Behind sleek black glasses the young women looked at her daughter in amusement. "How long do you plan on staying up? You're already starting to get bags under your eyes."

The teen sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I'm almost done. I swear, Pre-Calc will be the death of me."

Her mother chuckled, readjusting her messenger bag on her shoulders. "Well don't stay up much longer Rori. I won't be home till after you leave for school so I'll see you after your gymnastics practice. Make sure Simon gets groceries after school."

"Okay," Rori replied.

Once her mother left she closed the heavy book, her mind feeling heavy with information she couldn't seem to understand. Irritated, she tied her curly brown locks in a ponytail. _Who ever created math can die a horrible death. I bet they had no friends since-_

Tap…tap…tap…

The soft tapping of feet were once again heard above her. She was going to get to the bottom of this. She threw on a pair of sweat pants over her black shorts and a blue hoodie with her old high schools insignia on it. She vaguely wondered if this was going to become the stupidest thing she had ever done, but she decided not to think about it. She crept out into the dark hallway of her apartment to check the room next to her. Through the darkness she could see the outline of her older brother, curled under his sheets with only the top of his dark curly hair showing. She quickly darted back to her room, closing the door behind her, and went to open her window, climbing out to the fire escape.

"Rori Michelle!"

She froze in fear, brown eyes wide. "Simon!"

Her 6 foot 3 inches, muscular and athletically build older brother made his way over to her in just five strides. The anger in his eyes was evident as he yanked her back into the house by her forearm. "What were you thinking? What are you trying to sneak out for?" He questioned.

She snatched her arm back, embarrassed and shocked that her brother had found her so soon in her plan (not that she really had a plan to begin with). "I heard something on the roof-"

"That doesn't mean you go see what it is," He interrupted. "We don't live in the suburbs any more Rori. The city is dangerous, especially at night."

"I know that!"

Simon scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Obviously not. Be lucky that mom's not here or she would have beaten you." He leaned over, shutting and locking the window, before pulling the purple curtains closed. "Don't ever let me catch you doing something like that again."

She glared at him, not liking the way he was talking down to her. "You're not my father; I can do whatever the hell I want."

He towered over her petite 5'5 frame, arms crossed. "I'm not going to stand by and let you get yourself hurt because you decided to go look on the roof."

Rori had the sneaking suspicion that he was hiding something. "It's not like I'd fall off or something. Besides, I just wanted to take a peek."

Simon sighed heavily, sick of trying to get his sister to see reason. Sure she was a smart girl, but there were times where she severely lacked common sense. "Let's just get back to bed. We have school in a few hours."

But, once all the lights were off, and Simon was back in his room and Rori curled under her covers, she just couldn't shake the emotions that were going through her. Curiosity, fear, worry, anger. Through what could only be called some form of close sibling telepathy she could feel that her brother was hiding something, something big, from her. But what?

* * *

Hours later when she had to wake up at the dreaded time of 6:15, she rushed to the bathroom to take a shower before her brother could get up.

"Rori I need to take a shower too!" Simon shouted, banging on the oak door.

"I'll be out in a second!" She shouted back, running a brush through her brown locks of hair, letting it fall just below her shoulder. She looked herself over once more in the mirror, feeling cute in her skinny jeans and long-sleeved blue shirt. She left the bathroom to eat quick breakfast, then finishing up her morning routine.

"Ready?" Simon asked, throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

The two headed out to the parking garage attached to apartments, getting on Simon's motorcycle and making their way through the city.

"Bye Sy," Rori grinned, readjusting her bag on shoulders before heading into the school.

She arrived at her first hour class just in time for the bell to ring; taking her seat near the back of the computer lab. Her first hour was journalism- a subject she loved and hoped to continue on through college.

"I see you were almost late again," Her best friend Justin commented. "Way to be."

"Shut up," Rori said, playfully shoving him on the shoulder. "We got stuck in traffic."

Justin chuckled before they both turned their attention to their teacher, Mr. Neal. He took attendance before giving his students their next assignment.

"There is always something to write about in New York," The young teacher began. "You just have to find it. You need to find an interesting topic to write about and present it to the class next month. The only thing you can't do is get yourself killed because you decided to write about gangs. Leave that to people like Anderson Cooper." He then sat at his desk and left his students to their work.

"He's as vague as always," Rori muttered, turning on her computer. "Great. I have no clue what I'm going to write about."

"How about the mysterious tapping on your roof at night," Justin suggested. "And those explosions you say you see outside of your house."

"Mr. Neal told us not to get ourselves killed," She replied. "It's a good idea, but I'd probably be walking into a gang war." She logged into her user and clicked her mouse across the blue 'e' to get to the internet. "Besides, what if the tapping on my roof is just a bird or something."

Justin gave her a sideways glance as he logged onto his computer. "But what if it's not? I know you Ror, you're going to go to your roof sometime in the next few days and find out."

Rori scoffed, looking at the good search engine screen blankly. "Simon caught me trying to go to the roof last night. He'll be on high alert the next few days."

"Well then give it to next week," The brunette boy suggested. "In the meantime we can go around the city at night to find the source of those explosions."

"What?" Rori snapped. "Are you crazy?"

"Only a little."

"Absouly not!

[A few hours later]

"I can't believe I'm out here with you," Rori groaned, zipping up her jean jacket. "I'm cold!"

"You're always cold," Justine replied. The two were walking around the city, looking for some action to write about. "Do you know what this could do for our careers?"

"Since when did we make this a group article?"

"Since a few hours ago," Justin grinned.

Rori sighed, shaking her head. Justin Khace had been her befriend since middle school- always being there to protect her when her brother wasn't around. Not that she needed much protecting- she was pretty much under the radar. He stood taller than her by a few inches with messing brown hair and stunning blue eyes that stood out against his caramel skin tone. He was a cutie for sure, but she just didn't have romantic feelings for him (though her mother always teased her saying that she did). He was her sarcasm buddy; always there when she wanted to hang out or just needed someone to talk to. Luckily, when she moved to the city with her mother and brother, his father was moving too- letting the two continue going to the same school.

"Justin there's nothing happening," She yawned.

"Obviously we're not looking in the right place," Justin replied. "Let's hit the alleyways."

"Are you insane?" Rori nearly shouted. "Do you know how dangerous those are? We could get killed!"

"We'll be fine," Justin said dismissively. He then paused, a smirk forming on his face. "Actually, let's check out that roof of yours."

Rori was dragged back home by her over-adventurous friend. They went up the fire escape ladders on the side of the brick building so her family wouldn't spot them.

"See there's nothing here," Rori said, though secretly she was disappointed.

"What time do you usually hear these noises?" Justin asked.

"Around midnight," She replied, moving around the rooftop. "Sometimes later. The explosions only happen every now and then at the street level."

"It's only ten right now," Justin muttered, looking at his wrist watch. "We'll have to plan an all-nighter for this to work."

"We have a month you know."

"We can't procrastinate on this. We need to get as much information on possible."

"What exactly is our topic?"

A smirk once again, crept onto his features. "What do you think? To find out what's behind those explosions and those weird noises on your roof. They could be connected." His phone hummed in his pocket and he took it out to read his message. "Man, I need to head home. Don't tell your family about any of this. We could get in trouble."

"But-"

"Promise me! This could jump start our careers! We could meet Andersen Cooper, or be on Oprah!"

Rori sighed, doubting that either of those things would happen. Though, she was curious to know if the explosions and the noises were connected. "Okay, I promise."

The two went their separate ways- Rori inside her apartment and Justin back to his. She found her mom watching TV in the living room.

"Hey, where were you?" Rori's mother, Lynelle asked. The thirty-five year old African-American mother had worry lines around her eyes. "I tried calling you."

Rori tugged her phone out of her jean pocket and realized her mother was right and that somehow her phone had been put on silent. "Sorry mom, I was out with Justin. We're working on a project."

"Alright," She replied, changing the channel. "Do you know where Sy is?"

"He's not home?" Rori questioned. "I haven't seen him since I told him after school I was hanging with Justin."

"He's been really…stand-offish lately," Lynelle said. "He's out later and later and since his 18, I can't do much."

"He's still in high school though," Rori pointed out. "He doesn't have total rights of an adult."

Lynelle sighed, sliding her glasses off and rubbing her tired eyes. "I fear that he's doing something…" she trailed off and Rori knew what her mother was thinking.

_The Purple Dragons, _Rori thought sadly. "Mom, I don't think he'd do that. I mean, he has a full ride to Penn State. Why would he give that up?"

Lynelle shrugged, ending the conversation and trying to call her son again. Rori moved to the kitchen to warm-up some Mac & Cheese, then shutting herself in her room for the rest of the night, playing Sims 3 on her laptop.

"Woo Hoo!"

Rori glanced up at the ceiling, a questioning glint in her eyes. "I will find out who's up there. If I can find that out and the explosions I could jump start my career."

_Or possibly get myself killed. _

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[Author's Corner]

~The turtles should show up next chapter if everything goes as planned.

~Rori and Justin (who's last name is pronounced Case) are juniors in high school and Simon is a senior. Also, Rori and Simon's last name is Hendrix.

~Also, Rori and Simon are mixed- being half african-american and half cacausian


	2. Chapter 2

Class Project

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I wanted to try to go from Rori's point of view for this chapter (since she is the main character and all). If 3rd person works better for this story just tell me, i have no problem changing the format back. Well, ENJOY!

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[Rori]

_Round off-back handspring-layout_. I landed the pass with ease, taking a deep breath before beginning my next pass. I could hear my coach shouting for me to put more power into the pass. More power? Fine, easy enough. I did the pass again, making the layout higher and float longer in the air.

"Perfect!" Coach Sasha Logan cheered with a grin. "Do it just like that at our next meet!" She told me some things I needed to work on the beam and vault before dismissing me.

Once in the locker room, I pulled on a pair of sweatpants over my silver and purple leotard and tugging on my silver and black sports jacket that had the gymnastics companies logo- NYC Gymnastics Co. Pulling my hair out of its ponytail and finger combing it I walked out into the crisp Saturday afternoon. I raised my eyebrow when I found a familiar face grinning at me as I approached the stoplight, waiting for the signal to change. "Justin what are you doing here?"

"I've got a plan," He replied.

"Does it include near death experiences?"

His grin wavered, "Well…"

I sighed, shaking my head. "What is it?"

"I'm going to stay over your house tonight and we're going to do a stake out on your roof- but we're going to tell your mom we're seeing a late night movie," Justin explained.

"Well mom works late tonight so that won't be necessary," I replied. "It's Sy we need to worry about." The signal turned and we ventured to the other side of the street. "And way to just invite yourself over."

"Hey, it's what best friends do. That and sit with you in jail."

"Which with any luck will never happen."

* * *

[A Few Hours Later-Late Night]

"I don't know," Mom murmured, looking at Justin and I with uncertainty. "The last time I left you two alone while I was at work you almost set the kitchen on fire."

"The key word is almost Ms. Lyn!" Justin grinned. "Besides, we're going to a movie and since it's a late show we'll come back and fall right asleep."

Mom gave me a suspicious look before shaking her head, looking at her watch. "Oh alright, just tell Simon when you leave. He's in his room."

Mom left, leaving Justin and I grinning at each other; so far everything was going as planned. I quickly told Simon we were heading to the movies and he shooed me out of his room- saying to leave him in peace so he could finish up his phycology project. Justin and I then walked outside, to the fire escape ladder, and made our way to the roof.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Now, we wait."

I sat down on the hard cement floor, leaning back onto the bricks of the roof. "Now, I wish we really did go to a movie."

"Shh, I hear something." Justin leaned over the brick wall that went to his waist, binoculars in hand (he was prepared). "Is that Simon?"

"What?" I questioned. I stood up, looking down to the ground 20 levels down. "What's he doing? And why is he dressed like some thug?" I watched as my brother glanced looked back and forth before escaping down an alleyway. "We have to follow him."

We scrambled down the fire escape as fast as we could, running down the dark path he had ran down. We tried to follow him, but all we could see was his dark form until he was out of sight. I felt Justin's fingers curl around my wrist.

"Stay close," He whispered, pulling me with him. We crept down the dark alley for what felt like hours though it was probably only a few minutes.

"Bullet, you know better come back with a good report," A deep, harsh voice said through the darkness. Justin and I poked our heads around the corner to a see the back of what looked like a small warehouse- men dressed in ripped up street clothes packing up three trucks.

The man he was talking to stepped closer into the light, pulling down his hood. _S-Simon? _I felt my world go numb as my brother said: "Of course I will. And of course you'll hold up your end as always?"

The large blonde smirked, "Of course. As long as you keep doing what you're doing we won't have a problem."

Simon pulled up his grey hood back to rest on his head before giving the signal that it was time for him and his team to leave. He got into the passenger side of one of the blue trucks and was gone in moments. I felt Justin drag me back into the alleyway and didn't stop until we were back inside of my apartment where I almost had a meltdown.

"J-Justin," I stuttered. "My brother…my brother is part of a gang!"

Justin ran a flustered hand through his hair. "And not just any gang, the Purple Dragons."

I felt my whole body tremble. "What do we do?"

"Ror, there's nothing we can do." He breathed a heavy sigh. "It was your brother's choice."

"But what if he was forced into it!"

Justin stayed quiet, giving me a look that clearly said 'I really don't know what else to say, so I'll stay quiet so you won't hit me'. I shrugged off his look and stormed my way to my brother's room, flicking on the lights. For an 18 year old boy his room was clean- very clean. The bed was made, desk organized, and clothes put neatly away.

"I don't think we should be in here," Justin stated. "What if he comes back?"

"He'll obviously be gone for a while," I replied. "He's on a mission, remember?" I felt bad for looking through his things, but I needed answered. I kneeled down to look under the bed and found nothing-not even a dust bunny. I looked in his closet and found nothing, but hung up clothes. While, I was doing this Justin was snooping through his desk drawers.

"I found a map of some type," He said. "But other than that nothing. God, your brother is a neat freak."

"He has to be," I said, taking a picture with my phone of the map Justin had found. The map was a one of New York City, black lines through the spots where he's been; there was only one left. "He's keeping a huge secret. Do you know what would happen if mom found out-"I paused, everything finally hitting me. "Oh lord, mom's going to be crushed! He has a full ride to Penn State and she was looking forward to him going."

We made sure to leave everything how we found it and made our way back to the living room, crashing down on the couch.

"Where do you want to go from here?" Justin asked tiredly.

I sat quietly, before answering: "We continue with our project. We'll follow our leads-the Purple Dragons, the noises, and explosions. Slowly we'll piece them together. That map we found might be a huge help if it's accurate."

"And your brother?"

"I'll deal with him later."

* * *

[Next Day: Sunday Night]

Mom was at work again and Simon had left-saying he was going to a friend's house.

"Don't leave the house tonight," Simon ordered.

My eyes narrowed, "Why?"

"Because neither me or mom will be home all night and I don't like you wondering the city alone," He replied, before leaving.

I couldn't help by roll my eyes at this, _I'm not stupid, and I don't go out alone at night. _

I waited a few minutes before going to my room-changing out of my night shorts into jeans and pulling a dark sweatshirt over my tank top. I texted Justin to meet me in the lobby my apartment building. No more than fifteen minutes later we were outside at the midnight hour-searching for any signs of my brother or explosions. We tried going back to where we found the Purple Dragons last night, but there were no signs of them.

"What now?" I asked.

"Take out your phone," he replied. "We'll go to the site he hasn't marked off yet."

Something was telling me not to go, to just go home and let it be-but I couldn't. Simon was my big brother and though I wasn't the strongest person ever, I knew it was my job to protect him. I lead Justin to the site that was on the map, putting the coordinates into my phone. Once close by to the warehouse, I could hear scuffling and fighting in the alleyway beside it.

"What are you Purple Dragons planning now?" A strong, take-charge voice asked.

Justin and I paused, looked at each other, and then pressed our backs against the wall of the warehouse- slowly leaning to look around the corner. There I saw many Purple Dragon members down-only my brother left standing.

"Wouldn't you like to know," He smirked, spitting out blood. He stood weaponless- his knife thrown near the trucked parked at the end of the ally-no gun on him at all. That glint in his dark eyes startled me- it was evil, malicious. Was this my brother? "You know, you four have been a real pain in the butt for a while now. Do you know how much I'd be paid if I brought you in?"

"Too bad you'll never find out how much!" Another voice, a more accented voice shouted.

Everything moved in slow motion- my brother was defenseless, a man, no, a creature was lunging towards him with weapons in his hand. I couldn't let this happen, not when he had so much going for him.

"Stop!" I found myself screaming, not recognizing my own voice. I sprinted and skid infront of my injured brother. "Don't touch my brother!"

And there I was; standing with my arms open wide in a protective stance with a knife like weapon stopped right in front of my forehead- staring into the face of a red masked, green creature. It was torn between peeing my pants and thinking: _Good God, if I lived through this and put it in a novel I could become a bestseller._


	3. Chapter 3

Class Project

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Quick Notes by Justin H. Khace:

1.) Project is due in a month (sounds like a long time, but it's not…gotta make sure Rori doesn't procrastinate)

2.) Investigate Rori's roof (Hopefully it's just an animal…the voice she says she hears when the footsteps go by worries me)

3.) Investigated roof (found nothing)

4.) Investigated alleyway (found out Simon Hendrix- Rori's older brother- is a Purple Dragon)

~Side note: comfort Rori (while not making a complete fool of myself by saying something stupid)

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[Rori]

"What the shell?" The red-masked creature shouted. "Get out of the way girlie or you'll get killed by that Purple Dragon-"

"Or you," I dared to say back. I could sense Justin giving me that 'stop talking' look while he quickly made his way over to me and Simon. "You're the one with the weapon while my brother is defenseless."

"Rori Michelle," Simon growled from behind me. He grabbed me roughly by the forearm. "What are you doing out here?"

I snatched my arm back, taking a step closer towards Justin. "I could ask you the same question. How long have you been hanging with the Purple Dragons? Actually, better question: why are you throwing away your full ride to Penn State?"

"A Purple Dragon going to Penn State?" I heard a voice mutter from beside me a few feet away.

That's when I spun around again to see that the red-masked creature wasn't alone- he had three others like him with him and the one who had spoken had a purple mask.

"Rori Michelle," Simon said in a low voice. I always hated when he called me by my whole first name- actually I hated when anyone did. From around the corner, outside of the alleyway, I could hear heavy footsteps. "Go home now." He turned his glare to Justin, "What the hell is wrong with you? I trusted you to protect her and you bring her out this late at night?"

Justin glared back at him. "I'm not that one that joined a gang."

"Bullet." I turned and saw the same heavy set blond man from the other day, looking at my brother like he was nothing, but dirt. "Is this a failure I see?"

"Hun," I heard one of the creatures growl. I could hear swishing sounds through the air and took a guess that they were weapons of some sort.

"Justin, take her and get out of here," Simon ordered. "Now!"

Justin grabbed my wrist, pulling me with him down the alley and taking a turn where we were stopped by two other Purple Dragons-armed with weapons. He moved me so I was behind him, slowly shuffling us both back until my back hit the wall; him standing protectively in front of me.

"Hun, those two have nothing to do with this," Simon said, each word coming out sharply.

"Actually those two have a lot to do with this," Hun smirked. "And you know that." He looked at the thugs that had cornered us and gave a short nod- a go ahead sign. "Good luck weaseling yourself out of this one; I'm on to you Hendrix."

I couldn't see Simon's facial expression because I was too preoccupied trying to phase through the brick wall so the thugs wouldn't get me- needless to say that I can't phase through walls. The four creatures were gone, leaving Justin and I to fight for ourselves. Justin tried to punch and kick them, using his football skills to tackle them out of the way, but Hun sent more after us-making the fight two (technically one) against six. We were easily overtaken and soon knocked out. The last thing I remember thinking is, _Simon what kind of mess have you gotten us into?_

* * *

[Justin]

I heard mutterings around me and it took me a moment to pick apart the conversation so the words all didn't run together.

"Why did we save them?" A rough voice growled. "They're affiliated with the Purple Dragons!"

"Did you not see what happened?" A calmer, authoritative voice questioned. "Those two aren't affiliated with the Purple Dragons. Of course the girl is going to protect her big brother, but she obviously didn't know he was part of a gang." A few feet shifted and it sounded like the figures were coming closer. "Donny, are they injured?"

"It doesn't seem like it," A new voice replied. "Just a few bruises here and there, and though they took a few hard hits, nothing is life threatening. They should wake up soon."

"Did you call April?"

"Yeah, she said she'll be over here soon."

A door opened and footsteps came closer once more. "Guys what happened to these two?"

The one that was called Donny gave a rushed explanation. The women who I assumed was April made an understanding noise.

"How long have they been out for?" She asked.

"An hour or so," Donny replied. "They should be up soon."

"These scars on the girl," April murmured. Something was picked up and she continued saying, "Rori-Michelle Hendrix."

"They don't look fresh," Donny replied. "By the looks of it she's had them for a while."

Alright, time to wake up before they find more of the scars. They must have seen the ones on her arm (no she doesn't cut; it's a story for another time), but she has them up her arm and down her back. She hates talking about them and if I can stop them from asking her about them before she wakes up, the better it will be for everyone. I tried to start moving my body, but that it wanted to rebel against me- guess I was hit harder than I thought. I opened my eyes and found a woman sitting next to the cot I laid on- the other people that had just been talking to her were nowhere in sight.

She smiled gently before saying, "How are you feeling, Justin?" she paused, looking embarrassed. "I looked at your driver's license."

"Like I was beat up," I muttered, sitting up. I brushed off the fact that she looked in my wallet-I'm pretty sure the Purple Dragons took whatever money I had in it. Glancing around, I found I was in a room that looked like a lab. "Where am I?"

Her eyes shifted nervously, "At my friend's house. We found you two in the ally and wanted to make sure you guys weren't hurt too badly."

"Thanks," I replied, giving the best smile I could. My jaw hurt like hell. I glanced over to where Rori slept, curled onto her side in the fetal position. "How's Rori?"

"She's alright," She replied. "Just a few scrapes though she did take a blow to the head that knocked her out, but there wasn't any major bleeding." She checked a few of the scrapes on Rori and she said, "I'm April O'Neil by the way. Sorry for not mentioning that earlier."

"It's okay," I replied, swinging my legs over the edge of the cot. I then noticed the strange smell that seemed to wafted through the room. I began to look around my surroundings more, the walls not looking like ones that would normally be in a house. "Where exactly are we?"

April began to stutter as I slid off the clot onto the hard floor and started walking to the door. Opening the door I found what looked like…I have no clue what this is. I now recognized the smell as being a sewer smell, but it wasn't as strong as it normally would be if you were above ground or in the subways. In the middle of the open area was a pond with a bridge over it-off to one side was a TV area then to the other was what looked like bedrooms. I started piecing everything together in my head; itching to write everything down in my trusty notebook that was sitting on my desk at home.

"Are we in a sewer?" I asked, trying to be nonchalant about it though I could hear the slight panic and disbelief in my voice.

"Yeah?" She replied, her voice shooting up a pitch, making her answer sound like a question.

I had a feeling that this had a long backstory.

* * *

Author's Corner:

~Hope all who read enjoyed!


	4. Chapter 4

Class Project

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Thank you to those who have left reviews so far and gave this fic a chance! :). Hope you enjoy this next chapter!

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[Rori]

I jolted awake, my mind moving at hyper speed before crashing again- a headache forming. My body hurt as if I had done an intense conditioning and it took me a moment to sit up and slowly swing my feet over the cot I was laying on. I was in a small room- a lab of sorts- with many unfinished projects and diagrams. An empty cot sat beside mine with Justin's wallet sitting on top of it. I started to feel jittery, wanting to know where he was.

"Justin," I whispered out, afraid to speak at a normal volume. I quietly eased myself to the ground, my legs protesting as I slowly walked across the stone floor. I crept out of the lab and found the area around me empty. "Am I in a sewer?"

It wasn't a strong smell, but it was definitely there mixed with the pizza and candles. In the middle of the area was a pond like structure with a bridge over it. The area branched off into different hallways where rooms could be located. As homey as this place seemed I still wanted to know where Justin was so I could feel a bit safer. I finally bit back my nerves and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Justin!"

I heard footsteps from around the corner and Justin soon came into sight looking panicked. He glanced around the before calming down, walking over to where I stood near the entrance of the lab.

"I thought you were being attacked or something," He sighed. "Are you okay?"

"Physically I think I'm fine," I replied, feeling relieved that he was around. "Where are we?"

He chuckled nervously, "Funny story actually, you might want to sit down for this one." He ushered me into the lab and we sat on one of the cots. "So, there's really no easy way to put this."

I looked at him wearily, "Pleased don't tell me we're being sold to some drug dealer."

"Nope," He replied. "We're in a sewer where four teenage mutant turtles and their sensei who is a rat lives."

I gave him a blank look, "Well, I'll give you points on creativity I guess, but seriously where are we?"

"I'm being dead serious actually; don't let the calm face fool you I'm secretly freaking out inside." He then summarized what had happened when he woke up. A woman named April was in the room when he woke up and said he had been passed out for a few hours. He had noticed how odd his surroundings and got up to investigate though it seemed that April didn't want him to. When he walked out and saw the four giant turtles, a rat, and a black haired man in the living room looking at him nervously.

"I think they expected me to scream and pass out," He said. "I almost did, but then I realized I needed to be up when you woke up and this is great material to write out." Oh Justin, always thinking about this next clip. "The rat's name is Splinter and he gave a lecture about not telling anyone and to not endanger his family. Does he seriously think anyone would believe me?"

"Justin I currently don't believe you," I said bluntly. "Cut the crap will you?"

"Justin!" A voice called. Then from the doorway an orange clad giant turtle appeared. "I found- oh your friend is up."

I stared at the turtle for at least a good five seconds. "What fresh hell is this?"

The turtled blinked and muttered, "Well at least she didn't scream."

I looked at Justin who was giving me his classic 'I told you so' smirk. "Is there any chance that this could be a very elaborate dream?"

Justin shook his head, smirk still intact. "Nope, this is real life dude. That one's Mikey, he's a comic book nerd like us."

Mikey struck a pose with a smile. "Yep, your names Rori right?"

I nodded slowly, the shock of a giant talking turtle still running strong. It's the kind of shock where your senses become numb and you don't know whether to just go along with it or break down and cry from confusion- I guess this was me going along with it.

"Cool!" Mikey said. "Justin said that you might scream or something, guess he owes me five bucks!"

"You seriously made a bet?" I questioned.

"Well the Purple Dragons took all the money in my wallet so I got to make it back somehow," Justin replied.

"Speaking of Purple Dragons do you know what happened to Simon?" I asked, memories of what happened a few hours ago rushing back.

"I don't but the guys might know," Justin replied, gesturing towards Mikey. "Are you mentally prepared to meet them?"

"How prepared can you be to meet mutant turtles?" I replied.

"Well Casey and April took it pretty well," Mikey chime in. "Come on, you have to meet the others!"

Justin dragged me out the room and to the living room where the rest of the family was with April and a man who I assumed was Casey sat watching TV.

"Ms. Hendrix I presume," The old rat began, clicking off the TV. "It is good to see you awake."

"Y-yes, thanks," I replied, trying not to stutter. "You can call me Rori."

Mikey then gave the introductions; Donny and Leo seemed to take me and Justin's presence nicely but Raph glared at us.

"They're associated with the Purple Dragons," He growled out. "They really shouldn't be down here."

Something about Raph just made me annoyed and made me want to punch him in the face (I think that would be a bad idea though). I glared at him, crossing my arms across my chest. "We're not associated with those thugs. I just found out Saturday that my brother was involved in that gang and believe me I'm not happy about it." The glare Raph sent me intensified, almost making me afraid to be in the same room with him, but I stood my ground. I didn't mean them any disrespect- just wanted them to know where I stood on the topic of Purple Dragons.

"Rori, you must understand that the Purple Dragons are one of our enemies, making your brother one," Leo said. "If we are attacked by them again and your brother is there we cannot show weakness."

My loyalties lie with my family, but what Simon was doing was wrong and illegal. If I could get him to see reason before mom gets ahold of him he might have a chance to get to college and take full advantage of his full ride scholarship. "I understand…" I wanted to say more- say I could change my brother, but that's a promise I knew I couldn't make.

"Rori," Justin said, breaking my train of thought. "We should probably head home- we have school in a few hours."

I glanced at the clock on the cable box that read 4:30 a.m. - I didn't even realize it was that late (or early- however you would like to see it). "How about we skip today? I don't think running on two hours of sleep is going to get us through the day.

"True, we'd probably get sent to detention for falling asleep in class," Justin replied, before turning back to our new acquaintances. "Thanks for helping us. Who knows what would have happened if you guys weren't there. We owe you one."

"Just don't use us in your school project," Donny replied.

"How about we drop you two off at home," Leo suggested.

Justin and I glanced at each other- obviously thinking the same thing: _They can drive? _

"Thanks, beats walking in the dark," Justin replied. "I really don't feel like taking on more Purple Dragons."

We collected our few belongings from the lab and were escorted to the truck that the four brothers called The Battle Shell. The ride home was relatively quiet other than when I had to tell Donny to make a turn. Mikey talked to Justin about comic books and games while Leo sat quietly in the seat next to Donny. Raph didn't say a word- obviously not trusting Justin and I. I guess I couldn't blame him- most humans probably didn't take to them very well and would run away screaming. I was still in my numb state of shock and just couldn't bring myself to feel afraid of them (well except Raph because he seems like violent one out of his brothers). It would probably hit me later on while Justin and I record our findings and such. I can't tell what Justin is feeling about this whole experience other than the writer in him is going at hyper speed. If I knew Justin as well as I think I do, I know he'll bust out his notebook and record everything that happened over the last few hours in such good detail anyone who happened to read it would think that it was actually true.

"Thanks for giving us a ride and for helping us out," I smiled, once they pulled in front of my apartment building. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Uh no," Justin said. "Mikey and I are still talking about comic books. Plus can you believe he hasn't played any of the Half Life games?"

"Is it that good of a game?" Mikey questioned, wanting to know more about this game. "And you'll let me borrow some of your Batman comics, right?"

"Sure dude," Justin replied. "And it's an amazing game! Tell him Ror!"

"It's a super awesome game!" I grinned, thinking about the many hours I put into finishing the first game-Half Life- and first episode of Half Life 2 (there was Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1 and Half Life 2: Episode 2) .

"Great more Mikeys," Raph commented. "That's just what we need."

Justin and I made our way inside of the apartment building, crashing onto the couch once in the living room. Simon wasn't here and mom was still at work.

"Do you think Simon is okay?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I guess we'll know later," Justin replied, not wanting to give me a yes or no answer. "How about we get some sleep?"

I went to my room to get ready for bed while Justin got comfortable on the couch- the living room his temporary bedroom. I changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top, settling down on my bed and opening the notebook that sat on my nightstand.

_Dear Journal,_

_Tonight was probably the most interesting night of my young life. Not only did I catch my brother actively working with the PD's- I was also met giant...mutant...ninja…turtles…wow, I never realized just how insane and totally illogical that sounded. I wonder what Casey and April first thought when they met them. From what I heard Mikey tell Justin, April screamed multiple times, but Casey was pretty chill about it. The turtles seemed pretty cool- though Raph scared me crap out of me. I hated that he kept glaring at me the whole time- like he didn't believe that I had nothing to do with the PDs's. Whatever, it's his problem. Besides, I probably won't see them again though Justin wants to show Mikey some things…sigh, well I'm sleepy and the shock is slowly starting to ware off. _

_Rori out._

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Author's Corner:

~Hope all you read enjoyed! Review please!


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